Clothes basket holder



Oct. 4, 1955 .L. J. UMSTEAD 2,719,689

CLOTHES BASKET HOLDER Filed Sept. 16, 1950 Zmventor (Ittorneg L yman Ill/Instead United, States Patent CLOTHES BASKET HOLDER 4 Lyman J. Umstead, Birdsboro, Pa. Application September 16, 1950, Serial No. 185,220

2 Claims. (Cl. 248-153) This invention relates to a clothes basket holder and, more particularly, to a quickly detachable holder or support for clothes baskets and other similar objects, which holder is so shaped as to provide great ease in moving the clothes basket from place to place.

A common type of clothes basket-holder assembly is one in which the basket is made of canvas and having pivotally connected legs so as to provide a collapsible structure. An outstanding disadvantage of such basket is that in order to move it from one position to another, such as on a lawn, the basket must be lifted each time, which results in fatigue. A disadvantage of most types of clothes basket holders is that they are relatively cumbersome and complicated in construction and do not lend themselves to easy movement from one position to another when clothes are either hung or removed from the clothesline.

An object of the present invention is to provide a clothes basket holder which is devoid of the above named disadvantages and which atfords great ease in handling, particularly in the movement of the clothes basket supported thereby from position to position when handling clothes.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple, inexpensive and one-piece support for a clothes basket which is readily detachable therefrom and which is slidable and thereby permits movement of the supported basket to different positions when hanging or removing clothes from the line, or for other operations.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a clothes basket holder embodying the principles of my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the holder similar to Fig. 1 but of reduced scale and showing the basket in supported position.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing these show a clothes basket holder made from wire, preferably of spring steel, but which may be of alloys, aluminum, or other suitable material. The holder is made up of wire pieces welded together so as to form an integral structure. The holder comprises a pair of runners 1 which are adapted to slide on a lawn or on the ground and whose end portions are bent upwardly and inwardly so as to form two pairs of uprights or vertically inclined supports 2 and 3. A pair of cross members 4 and a second pair of cross members 5 are provided at the lower and upper portions of supports 2 and 3 by having their ends welded to the supports so as to provide a reinforced structure. The upper ends of supports 2 and3 are bent outwardly, somewhat horizontally and terminate in a loop 6, and similarly, the upper ends of supports 3 are bent outwardly, somewhat horizontally and terminate in a loop 7. Loops 6 and 7 are semi-oval shaped so as to snugly embrace opposite, sharply curved peripheral portions of a clothes basket. It will be seen that parts 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 are formed from a single loop of wire.

2,719,689 Patented Oct. 4, 1955 A coil spring 8 is provided with one end connected to one of the cross members 5 and the other end detachably secured to the other cross member 5. A strap 10 may be secured to one of the loops such as7 to provide a means for pulling on the support if so desired. Supports 2 and 3 are in spaced parallel relationship. v I

In operation, it will be seen that when one end of spring 8 is detached from the cross bar 5, the loops ,6 and 7 may be manually grasped and spread apart against the spring action of supports 2 and 3 and clothes basket 9 may be lowered into the well or space defined by lops.6 and 7 until its bottom rests upon the cross members 5. Spring 8 is then attached to cross member 5 and thereby will yield.- ingly urge loops 6 and 7 in tight engagement with opposite peripheral portions of the clothes basket as shown in Fig.

2. 'Thus the clothes basket 9 and holder will be held rigidly together as a unitary assembly. Therefore, when it is desired to move the clothes basket from one position to another, such as on a. lawn, it is necessary merely to grasp the handle of the clothes basket and pull the assembly to cause sliding of the runners along the lawn or other surface. Or, if desired, strap 10 may be pulled instead of the handle to cause sliding movement of the holder and supported basket.

1n the event the clothes basket holder is made of relatively large diameter wire, there may be enough springiness of supports 2 and 3 to cause sufficiently tight embracement of loops 6 and 7 with the peripheral portions of the clothes basket so as to eliminate the necessity of coil spring 8. In either event, that is, with or without coil spring 8, supports 2 and 3 provide a certain degree of springiness, particularly if the holder is made of spring steel, so that loops 6 and 7 are yieldingly biased to their normal position as shown in the figures and when pulled apart and released will return to this position. It will be noted that the holder may be made of metal tubing if so desired.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a highly efiicient, one-piece clothes basket holder which is of simple and inexpensive construction and which is somewhat in the form of a sled to enable sliding movement of the holder and supported basket from position to position when hanging or removing clothes from a clothesline; furthermore, I have provided a holder for clothes baskets or other objects, which holder is of sturdy construction, relatively light weight and which has as component parts thereof, clamping means for yieldingly clamping against opposite peripheral portions of the clothes basket so as to form a rigid assembly therewith and enable movement of the assembly by the mere pulling of the clothes basket handle to efiect sliding movement of the holder on a supporting surface.

While I have illustrated and described a certain specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A holder for clothes baskets, comprising wire-shaped parts integrally secured together in the form of a unitary structure including a pair of parallel, horizontally extending runners forming the sole ground contacting elements and terminating in two pairs of upwardly convergent upright supports on the same ends of the runners,

the corresponding supports being disposed in parallel relationship and terminating at their upper extremities in an integral loops extending substantially horizontally and outwardly, said loops being oval shaped so as to conform to the contours of opposite portions of a clothes basket and yieldably movable apart by the springiness ofisaid upright supports, said holder being made of spring steel 3 fihd h'eififi tiflder tefisidifwh'eil supporting a basket whereby said loops are yieldingly biased into tight clamping engagement with the supported clothes basket to provide a unitary s licla ble assembly. v

ingly bringing together said lops in tight and yielding engagement with opposite peripheral portions of the clothes basket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNETED STATES PATENTS D. 149,701 Smith May 18, 1948 1,180,735 Murray Apr. 25, 1916 1,578,493 Wintoh Mar. 30, 1926 1,831,493 Holtzman Nov. 10, 1931 2,096,349 Moxley Oct. 19, 1937 2,287,919 Ulzheimer June 30, 1942 2,456,845 Stine et a1. Dec. 21, 1948 2,480,018 Greenberg Aug. 23, 1949 2,515,793 Owens July 18, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,500 Netherlands Nov. 16, 19-21 

